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Southwestern Woman

A New Version of an Old Scam

Your computer screen is plastered with warnings that purport to be from microsoft. It is frozen. I turned my computer off and it was turned back on with the warning still in place. I ignored the number you were supposed to call, turned the computer off and unplugged it for a short while. My computer is working fine now.

I got sucked into this fake message once by those crafty little Asians....this is an assumption due to their accent and don't want it to happen to anyone else. AARP says turn the computer off immediately but that didn't work this time. It had to be unplugged for about ten minutes.

I loathe scammers. I wish they would learn to work for a living just like we all have to do.

posted on Nov 20, 2018 1:38 AM ()

Comments:

I fear for the folks who unknowingly fall into these scammers' traps. It can be costly to repair their damage or recover from their fraud.

We constantly get phone calls from someone claiming to be from Microsoft, telling us our program has been breached and we are at grave risk, and to please call the no. they give us. I just hang up on them and don't do anything and nothing happens to my computer. We also get calls from techies from India, that we once used, and they messed us up big time when we wouldn't go for their exorbitant fee. Why they think we would ever work with them again is beyond me. I usually tell them to f off. And they keep calling.

Do you use a browser ad blocker? I also use the NoScript plugin, so I can chose which websites are allowed to run javascript and what other javascript is allowed. My wife finds that plugin too much work, but it limits third-party scripts.

What gnaws at me the most is that they threaten to disable your computer if you do not comply with their request to call the fake microsoft number. Think of all the elderly people who use a computer to stay in touch with their friends and family.

Smart of you to heed this advice from AARP! It's worth remembering that turning your computer off and restarting fixes quite a few things; but actually unplugging from the wall for a short period resets other things. Once for a repair Apple told me to unplug my computer too.